Mael

Thanks, that's very kind.

Hey guys, today my puppy Lucy was running in the back yard and she slammed her leg against my concrete patio. She instantly laid down and stopped playing. I took her to the vet to get her checked out. The diagnosis was a limp toe (the outside one on the left paw). The vet said that we should wait until next week to get an x-ray, to see if it heals. She also gave me some pain meds. Lucy is limping significantly, but sometimes does put weight on the toe. The toe looks like it's at a slight angle which could be swelling or a break. Lucy often lifts up the paw to avoid putting pressure on it, as it is very clearly tender. So overall, a broken toe is not a big deal. I'd love it to be just a bruise, but if it's a break, it'll heal in about 6 weeks. The real problem is what to do with Lucy until then? Her and I are doing so well. She has puppy class once a week, puppy play dates several times a week, I walk her every day, I play with her in the yard, and I basically take her everywhere that I reasonably can. With a broken toe, all of that will change. I'm worried about interrupting her socialization and training, as well as having her quality of life decreased because she will be bored and have a lot of energy. It's hard enough to keep her calm with training, playing, and walking. How will I manage this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm upset about the situation, but I know it could be worse, and I'm grateful that it's just a toe.

I haven't posted in a while, but I have a few questions about Lucy's recent behavior. The first thing she does is love her food at first and then not want to eat it. When I first got her I gave her the puppy mix from Wellness. At first she loved it but then she only ate parts of her meals (three times a day). When I ran out of the Wellness I got her on the puppy mix from Orijen because it is supposed to be better. Once again, she devoured it the first couple of days and then got sick of it and will only eat some of what I give her. I feed her at 7, 12, and 17. Is this just the fact that she is distracted with other things and not very hungry? She always tries to steal the food that my family's dachshund has (some prescription diet stuff because she is allergic to a few things). I've been having the mindset that when she is hungry, she will eat. The food I have for her is quality stuff and I hope she'll just get used to it and eat it. The other thing just started a few days ago. Her and I had been bonding very well and she was really getting used to me but then all of a sudden she seemed to shy away from me. Two or three days ago I woke up and she was just more hesitant and was acting the way that she did within the first few weeks that I got her. She no longer wants to chase me when we go outside. Instead, she goes on her own to explore or goes under this little roof we have where there is a secluded place and chews on icicles. She also seems less loving than she has been recently. She doesn't want to lick and cuddle much, she'd rather bite and be independent. Simply put, it seems like she is trying to assert her independence and challenge my dominance. Is this just a phase that she is gonna go through? Perhaps it is a fear period? She is good at sleeping in her crate at night and doesn't budge until I wake up. She doesn't like her crate during the day when I have to work though. Right now I work every 3 days or so for about 3-5 hours. She whines an howls like crazy when I leave and it's heartbreaking but when I get back she is usually fairly quiet. Should I just keep doing this and ignore the howling and whining? She definitely has some separation anxiety. If I even leave the room she cries and whines. I give her plenty of chew toys in the crate when I leave to help with the loneliness but I don't know how much it works. Other than that all is well. She is getting her final set of shots this week and I will start socializing her with other dogs! I've been socializing her with people everyday and exercising her a lot as well!

I took her out on a lot of trips today, carried in my arms. I got kicked out of only one of the four stores! One quick question, can I use my closet as a timeout area? She can't hurt herself in there, it's easily accessible, and I think she'll get the point that she did bad every time she goes in there. There isn't a light though, is this ok? I hope that this is a good solution because I don't want to use her crate, she's too skeptical of it already, I need her to keep getting positive messages from it.

Alright, I'll definitely work on that. Can someone answer my question about husky fur and chlorine? I guess my biggest problem throughout all this is getting control over Lucy without having her hate me. My family is sick of her cause she just bites them non stop. I'm not sick of her but I have far less patience than I did at the beginning. I can't touch her without her gnawing on my hand. Many times in the last few days I've almost yelled "NO!" She doesn't seem to even flinch but I still feel bad and don't want her to hate me.

I think that the biggest problem for the dogs is that Lucy wants to play but Belle is largely antisocial and has no interest in playing. Not to mention that Lucy is far more energetic than Belle and jumps on her!

Thanks for the reply, Stacey. I meant no offense in using the word "spaz", I just mean that she has a lot of energy. The thing about staying in my room is while I'm in there. She goes with me if I leave. But when I'm working in my room or doing something of the sort, it would not work to let her go on her own and explore the house. She'll just get into too much trouble. I have her see the house and sometimes play in it (if the other dog is out of the way). I've been socializing her a lot! She sees people almost every day. I haven't taken her to very many places yet though, just because most stores don't allow pets. I'll get her somewhere today.

I'm not the most experienced member on here but I have had my puppy for two weeks and have been working on crate training. For me, the first night was horrible, crying and howling all night. The next night, though, she didn't make a sound. I say give it a few days and she will be fine. Perhaps you should (if you haven't already) move the crate right next to your bed? That's what I did and it worked well.

I do train her but I haven't done it with a clicker yet. I will pick one up this Thursday when Lucy and I go to the vet. I have an indoor pool with a current, but is the chlorine ok? I don't want to damage her fur or eyes by allowing her to swim in there. As for the timeout room, the problem is finding a place to use as one. The closest room I could use would be a floor down and I imagine that by the time we got there she'd have forgotten what was wrong? What else could I use for a timeout? Possibly a gated off area or something of the sort?

Cute!

Swimming is a great idea! Is it ok for their fur? I know they shouldn't be washed too frequently. What happens if she hates the water? I know that she really disliked me giving her a bath when I did last week.

I try to associate words and sounds to her biting me but nothing has worked. The rabbit was just what I was comparing my family's miniature dachshund too, not really a rabbit. I think I'm gonna slowly break some of the rules and try to walk her on my street a little bit.

For the biting, I am currently trying to leave the room if she bites me. The problem with this technique is that she is eager to follow me and ends up getting tangled at my legs as I exit so I have to try to push her back and quickly close the door. I fear that this is confusing her because by the time I'm out, it's been at least 30 second to a minute. Where do you recommend I put her for a timeout? I don't want to do it in her crate. She's 8 weeks but has only had one set of vaccines (at 5 weeks). The vet said that 5 weeks is too early for shots and that the vet who administered them must have made a mistake (he vaccined the entire litter at 5 weeks) because they will not do anything. So other than that first set, she'll get another set on Thursday. Therefore, she can't go to puppy kindergarten quite yet. I don't feel comfortable taking her to public places where dogs have been quite yet because I don't want to risk any serious illness. That said, even when she has enough shots, she will be no more than 3 months old and will only be allowed 15 minutes of exercise a day. I don't think that a 15 minute walk will drain her energy at this point. I want to get her to meet some other huskies but I'm having no luck. Everyone I talk to is busy, not interested, or just too far from me. I have a friend with an 8 month old puppy (forgot the breed, definitely not husky though). Maybe they should play together when Lucy has her second set of shots? I'm being very patient with her. She's adorable. But I feel like I'm losing control despite me doing everything I've read in various books. I'm starting to think that those authors didn't have huskies!

That's messed up! I'd report them to whatever local authority takes care of internet scams in your area.

My puppy is crazy! I swear she's a cross between a wolf, a cat, and an energy drink! I try to tire her out by playing in the yard and having her chase toys and chew on her chew toys but she never gets tired out! She is always a spaz and is beginning to really annoy my family with her constant biting that is getting worse as she grows. I can't take her on long walks yet because she is only 8 weeks old and not fully vaccinated so all of her exercise is in the yard or in the house. She stays in my room a lot because whenever I let her out in the house she destroys everything and is uncontrollable. She just runs away from me if she grabs something that I don't want her to have. Not to mention that she thinks my family's miniature dachshund is a rabbit to chase around. I give her plenty of toys like Kongs and puzzle toys but she generally figures them out almost instantly or just loses interest and doesn't care. I'm trying everything that I can to exercise her and to have control but she just doesn't listen. I am firm too, I never give in to her whining and demands but she keeps it up. As for the biting, I've tried almost everything short of that bitter spray stuff and have had no success. What can I do to calm her down? Believe me, if I could, I'd run her for 2 hours straight everyday and she would sleep all day but that's clearly not an option. She's so cute...when she's sleeping!